The Real Peter
by windseeker
Summary: who the real Peter is, who I think is the most amazing character!


Disclaimer: I, windseeker, obviously wrote Ender's Game, didn't you know? Just kidding…Everything I wrote about is Orson Scott Card's!  
  
A/N: This was an essay, so parts are obvious and probably boring, but towards the end it gets interesting. Oh, and I picked some yummy quotes!  
  
Here's the part you already know if you've read Ender's Game:  
  
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, is a science fiction story about a future era when humankind is threatened by an alien species called the "buggers". Ender Wiggin, a young genius whom we follow from the age of six, is called upon to save the world from this exterior danger. And while he is training with the International Fleet in outer space, Ender's two older siblings are working to save Earth from the potential interior danger of a world war. Working from the nets (like our modern day internet), they use ingenious writing to manipulate the direction of world politics. Yet at the core of all three internationally and universally powerful figures are still three children, struggling with the development of their own emotions.  
  
Here's the part you may have missed:  
  
Peter Wiggin is the oldest of the three siblings. He is incredibly clever and aggressive; the only reason for his rejection from the International Fleet is his lack of compassion. He has an obsession for power, which drives him to control others by means of fear and intelligent manipulation. Yet behind his façade of violence and ruthlessness, is an emotional and undoubtedly lonely little boy. The question is, why does he feel the need to conceal this genuine self?  
  
The first time we meet Peter, it is when he is beating up a terrified little Ender, and making death threats to both him and his sister. Later he is found skinning a squirrel alive, waiting while its life seeps away. Throughout the book he represents the bully and a relentless source of torture. "Peter has always been a husbandman of pain," reflects his sister Valentine, "planting it, nurturing it, devouring it greedily when it was ripe…"(p. 124) Without a doubt, violence does not repulse Peter in the least.  
  
However, Peter's violence is not solely based on impulse, he uses it to his advantage. He uses the fear he provokes to get others to do what he likes. "I've been deciding whether to kill you or what," he threatens his sister. "It would be so easy. You always make those stupid little fires. It's just a matter of knocking you out and burning you up…No, Valentine. I've decided not to kill you. I've decided that you're going to help me."(p. 125) In this example, Peter makes it clear to Valentine that he could kill her, and so, like holding a gun up to her head, he can make her do what he wants.  
  
But Valentine has figured out how Peter thinks, and knows that he would only kill her if the advantages outweighed the risks. Peter is strategic in every word that he says and everything that he does. This is what allows him to get involved in world politics. "I see myself as knowing how to insert ideas into the public mind,"(p. 128) he says at one point. He also expresses this opinion in his view on history:  
  
"Everybody thinks Hitler got into power because of his armies, because they were willing to kill, and that's partly true because in the real world power is always built on the threat of death and dishonor. But mostly he got into power on the words, the right words at the right time." (p. 131)  
  
Again, he is obviously aware of how power can be derived from threats, but he also acknowledges the importance of words.  
  
On the nets, where Peter relies on words to get power, he takes the name of Locke. This name is a metaphor of Peter's character and role on the nets. John Locke was an English philosopher who wrote about government and empiricism, and whose words influenced the Declaration of Independence. Similarly, Peter's goal on the nets is to get countries to break free from a pact. John Locke also once said, "Good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided." Peter shares this view in that people can be manipulated through reward and especially punishment.  
  
What drives Peter's entire behavior is his obsession with power. Control is his constant goal, his purpose for living. As he reflects on his past behavior with his brother and sister, he analyzes his own nature:  
  
"I was a vicious, nasty brother. I was cruel to you and crueler to Ender before they took him. But I didn't hate you. I loved you both, I just had to be – had to have control, do you understand that? It's the most important thing to me, it's my greatest gift, I can see where the weak points are, I can see how to get in and use them, I can just see those things without even trying." (p. 131)  
  
  
  
1 This shows that perhaps Peter's behavior is a natural instinct. It's as if the way he acts is the only way that seems possible to him. Perhaps his craving for power is like a bad habit. Surely at first he enjoyed his gift for manipulating people. After making jest-like threats to his siblings, he would say it was "not a joke, a game. I can make you guys believe anything. I can make you dance around like puppets."(p.14) Yet there is evidence that he gets tired of his own power-seeking instinct.  
  
At one instance in this novel, Peter admits, "It's what I'm most afraid of. That I really am a monster. I don't want to be a killer but I just can't help it."(p. 132) Of course, he says this at a time when it can be used to his advantage, but according to Valentine, there is probably be some merit in his confession. At another moment in the book, Peter approaches Ender, who appears to be sleeping, and apologizes for his behavior in a whisper: "Ender, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I'm sorry, I'm your brother, I love you."(p.15)  
  
Why would Peter choose to say something nice when no one can hear him? I have pondered this for a long time. Since Ender did not appear awake, this apology was more for Peter's own peace than for Ender. This quote obviously expresses that there is some sense of morality and compassion in Peter. But he must feel the need to conceal it; he doesn't want people to know that he has a good side. Something must be compelling him to present himself as bitter and disagreeable.  
  
In my opinion, what is most damaging to Peter is his genius. The entire world of knowledge has been accessible to him by the nets from such an early age. His intelligence and mature interests separate him from the rest of the children his age, preventing him from playing or interacting at all. Instead of playing he studies politics, science, and a whole history of human deception and atrocities. Being even smarter than his parents, he never gets a chance to look up to them and learn about love and responsibility from them. Because of all this, he grows up way too soon, never having a real childhood.  
  
And now Peter longs for someone to treat him like a child. His intelligence has made everything come so easy for him his whole life: he's constantly searching for a challenge. In a way, Peter's cruel jeers and bullying may be just his way of saying, "Bring it on. Fight me." But he finds that no one is smart enough or brave enough to fight him, to tell him what to do. The only person who comes close to this is his sister Valentine, and she is the only person that Peter ever cooperates with.  
  
Whatever reasoning there is for Peter's behavior, he is clearly a troubled child. Like many geniuses, while he has no problems intellectually he does psychologically. On one side he is a selfish, ruthless and diabolical dictator, while on the other side he is just a lonely, mischievous child. Perhaps all he really needs is for someone to love him beyond his deceptive behavior. 


End file.
